Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Where do they go? Children place the animals on the diagram depending on what they do in the winter--hibernate, migrate, or adapt? As an extension, children can trace the diagram and cut out their own animals to glue on the diagram.

Hibernation, Adaptation, Migration material. Children sort animals by how they survive in the winter.

Animal tracks. Three part cards of animal tracks.

Wintery sensory table.

Sink or Float? Children experiment by placing an object in the bowl of water to see whether it sinks or not.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Our polygon game. Children can use this material as a 1, 2, or 3 person game. Children spin the spinner and then connect the polygons to create shapes. Sometimes the children draw what they make on the chalkboard or on paper as an extension to this game.

This is our polygon work. It consists of popsicle sticks and a chart of some simply polygons: triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, and octagon. I found this material on Counting Coconuts. This has been my latest inspiration for making materials for our classroom.

Friends at Namaste have been enjoying embroidery and sewing. With this material children can make up their own constellations by connecting the stars or they can follow a constellation from the book.

Some of the friends painted these planets for our solar system work. Children can then sing the solar system song: (in the tune of Puff the Magic Dragon)

I see hope for a peaceful future when I look into the eyes of my children

Welcome

This blog is simply a way to share what's on our shelves with families, other teachers, and anyone who is interested in Montessori education.

Feel free to use our activitiy ideas in your homes and classrooms. As a small, new school we operate on a pretty tight budget. Many of our materials are homemade, purchased second hand, or creatively repurposed. Since "reuse and recycle" is quite a trendy movement right now, we are very much in style. Together we can strive to create rich learning environments for our children. We are always learning and looking for ways to improve our work, so we look forward to hearing from you. We encourage you to comment, share ideas, and ask questions.

We'd love for you to spread the word. Go ahead and link away!Please do not copy pictures or text for publication without permission.